PennDOT has opened public comment for a draft report on the environmental and property impacts of a proposed major Route 322 project in Centre County now estimated to cost upwards of $1 billion.
The State College Area Connector project would create 8-mile, four-lane limited access road in Potter and Harris townships, connecting the existing four-lane U.S. 322 at Potters Mills and the Mount Nittany Expressway near Boalsburg, and diverting traffic from the local road network.
The public can review and comment on the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) during a 45-day period that began on Friday, March 6 and concludes on Monday, April 20. A public hearing also will be held starting at 4 p.m. on April 7 at Calvary Harvest Fields, 150 Harvest Fields Drive, Boalsburg.
PennDOT in 2025 identified the “central alternative” as the preferred route from among three options. According to the DEIS, the estimated construction cost for the central alternative ranges from $843 million to $1.06 billion.
That’s up from the estimated $600 million to $900 million last spring. When the project was introduced in 2019 as an anticipated 13-mile highway, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office estimated the cost at $670 million.
The central alternative project would displace 15 homes, two businesses and one place of worship — Grace Church on Mountain Back Road. “Mitigation for displaced structures will consist of fair market value compensation and relocation assistance,” according to the DEIS.
Eighteen farms and 139 acres of productive agricultural lands would be impacted to varying extents. The route also runs through conservation easements on Kuhn Tree Farm and Nittany Farm properties, and PennDOT will be required to coordinate with ClearWater Conservancy, which owns the easements, and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which provided grant funding for the easements.
Six acres of the 29-acre Potter Township Athletic Complex also would be impacted, though no developed recreational facilities will be affected. Fifteen acres of wetlands and 3,799 linear feet of streams would be lost to the construction.
The potential for encountering acid producing rock in the area of the preferred route is low, according to the DEIS.
Construction is tentatively expected to begin in 2030 and be completed in phases through 2035.
The proposed highway is intended to address safety and congestion concerns and improving traffic flow into the State College area and Interstates 80 and 99. Annual average daily traffic along U.S. 322 in the project area is anticipated to increase between 32% and 52% by 2050, according to the DEIS.
The DEIS is available for review and comment online. It can also be reviewed in person during normal business hours at the municipal buildings in Benner, College, Harris, Potter and Spring townships and Centre Hall Borough; Centre County Government’s Willowbank Building in Bellefonte; Centre Hall Library; and PennDOT Engineering District 2-0 in Clearfield.
The April 7 public hearing will accept private testimony from 4 to 8 p.m. and public testimony from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Those providing verbal testimony either privately or publicly will be limited to five minutes speaking time. Written testimony will also be accepted by completing a comment form at the public hearing, by submitting it online through the project website, or through written letters or emails to PennDOT Engineering District 2, 70 PennDOT Drive;,Clearfield, PA 16830; Attention Eric Murnyack or emurnyack@pa.gov.
